Cooking cakes in slow cookers is out of the norm for a lot of traditionalist slow cooker users, so we wanted to include some advice on what can and can’t be used in cake making in your slow cooker, and also to provide some general tips for getting the most out of your slow cooker cake making 🙂
First and foremost, as mentioned above, the ‘tea towel trick‘ is very important to prevent condensation dripping on your cakes when cooking them in the slow cooker. Click on the link to learn more about this.
Slow cookers can be used to cook packet/box type cake mixes as well as your own favourite from scratch recipe.
Here is a handy reference for converting your regular oven recipes to slow cooker recipes >>> here
But what about what you cook the actual cake in?
There are three options:
1. Line/Grease your slow cooker inner bowl and cook your cakes directly in this slow cooker bowl.Â
When doing this I find lining the bowl with non stick baking paper not only prevents sticking but also gives you something to hold onto to lift the cake out with at the end of the cooking time.
2. Metal cake tins can be used in your slow cooker.Â
If you are concerned with using them dry in your slow cooker (ceramic bowls in particular) simply fill the bottom of the slow cooker bowl with 2-3 cm of water first then sit your cake tin gently in this water prior to cooking.
You can also elevate the cake tin off the bottom of the slow cooker to allow heat to circulate evenly around your cake. This can be achieved by resting the cake tin on a metal trivet, on metal egg rings or even on scrunched up balls of aluminum foil.
3. Silicone cake tins (full cake tins and individual cupcake sized) are also safe to use in your slow cooker and will not melt.
After all they are intended for high heats of ovens also.
Use the suggestions in #2 to elevate them if your prefer.
When using non ceramic slow cooker bowls I personally sit my silicone cake tins/cups directly onto the bottom of the slow cooker, without water, with no concerns.
As with all non traditional slow cooking, be sure to check your manual first and only do what you are comfortable doing 🙂
To browse our huge collections of slow cooker cakes visit the Cake Category.
If you’ve got a great cake recipe to share with us you can submit your recipe and photo here >>Â Submit a Recipe
Watch our YouTube video here >> Slow Cooker Cakes 101
Hi I live in UK ,I notice all these people on site use some fantastic slow cookers that brown meat also can be set on timers .
Here in the UK we don’t appear to have these luminous slow cookers ……….. Do you know any companies who will ex spot post out to UK .
Regards frustrated slow cooker ,patricia hearn
Try a sear and stew morphy Richards slow cooker or buy a timer socket that you plug your sc in to
I have a 4 quart crockpot that is circle instead of oval shaped. I have tried to make a cake twice, the first time I let it sit on low for probably 2 hours or more the outside was burnt but the inside was not cooked at all.. the second time I put it on high for about an hour or two and it still came out burned on the outside but cooked in the middle. So then I got a cookie mix and put it in the crockpot put it on low let it sit for almost 2 hours and yet again burned on the outside and uncooked in the middle. I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong or if because it is a deep circle crockpot instead of a shallow oval crockpot. Should I cut the dough mixture in half and make two separate cakes? also having a deeper circle crockpot will that cause some of the recipes i make to not fully cook? the outside of the cake is burned but yet the inside isn’t cooked at all I don’t know if all my meals will be uncooked in parts or what. please help
Hi Amanda
It sounds like your cooker runs quite hot
This shouldn’t be a huge problem with regular savoury meals (especially if you are able to stir here and there) but it’s causing you troubles with cakes I can see.
I certainly would avoid the high option as it’s more likely to burn than low.
Are you cooking your cakes directly in the slow cooker bowl or in a cake tin inside your bowl.
It might be good for you to try the latter. Sit a cake tin or silicone cake tin in a shallow water bath inside your slow cooker (no more than half way up your tin), use the tea towel on the lid still, and try cooking it this way on low.
Use a skewer inserted in the cake along the way to test it for being cooked when skewer comes out clean.
Once you get an idea then of how long it takes for your cooker you should be right
This inner dish method will keep your cake away from the hot sides of your machine and hopefully bring you a better result 🙂
Hi Pauline, if I want to double the ingredients of a cake, how how do I adjust the timing please? Regards, Pamela
It may need extra time indeed but it wouldn’t need double. I’d suggest keeping an eye on it with the skewer test .. if it comes out clean it’s done 🙂
Thank you 😀
Hi, I’ve tried to cook a cake in my slow cooker for my son with allergies.. In a tin with small amount of water and tea towel around the lid!! 3 hours later,I had a formed partially cooked wet gooey mixture… What am I doing wrong? Please help x
Are you cooking on high or low?
Hi, my name is Dianna, and my question is when baking brownies in my slow cooker is box mix the same as homemade. I know it’s a silly question but I just want to be sure I don’t waste the brownie mix.
Hi Dianna
You can absolutely use the box mix in your slow cooker
Around 1.5hrs roughly on high with tea towel trick
Some cookers may need a little longer so just check 🙂